I have been listening to a lot of late 90’s / early 2000’s indie-pop of late. Perhaps the reason was that I was looking for something else (or at least to have a break from) other than the indie-pop awash’with the Sarah Records style ‘pretty’ that I regularly consume as part of my musical diet.

The Maybellines provide this distance with aplomb. Tracks such as the Bomb Pop, One Thousand and the simply superlative Sleep Over (see below) twist and shape their sub two minute vignettes around the slanted jangle of era playmates like Rockektship, Dressy Bessy and Super Remington 60, whilst simultaneously managing to imbue a sense of individuality via the increased sense of laconic.

Before it drifted into and eventually became consumed by, the Postcard Records retro invasion of the mid 2000’s, the indie-pop of the era also differentiated itself from all things Sarah with a sense of added grumble. As such we see tracks such as Watch Out, Space Mission Bible Camp and Sally imbue Dear Nora style isolated lead guitar riffs behind all manner steady and dominant Julian Hatfield bass lines.

Perhaps the fact that they only released two actual albums, meant that The Maybellines are not usually mentioned as the best of the early 2000’s indie-pop. However, there is certainly no other band that summed up the era’s sound as perfectly.

Artist Links:  Discogs

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